Monday, June 16, 2003

HERE WE ARE...OUR GUYS. Not just 1st Brigade guys...this is our battalion! How in the heck did a bunch of loggies get the mission to run a jail??? I can't be sure just by reading but it appears this mission is being handled by B Company...but it is still possible CPT Patti has part of this mission.

As the sun sets on the Iraqi capital, soldiers from the 501st Forward Support Battalion prepare themselves for a night of tending to prisoners captured on the city’s streets.

The Friedberg, Germany-based soldiers recently took over a makeshift jail at Baghdad’s Shaab Stadium from the 3rd Infantry Division. Each night, a dozen or more Iraqis who either break the law or the 11 p.m. curfew end up in small cages underneath the stadium seats...

...Rybus, 33, of Leseur, Minn., who normally works in motor pool supply, is now working as a jailer in Iraq. He cut off the plastic handcuffs and told soldiers to reapply them looser so they don’t hurt prisoners’ wrists.

“I just want to make sure they’re not mistreated. After all, they are still people,” Rybus said. “While they are here, they’re treated well.”